Blessings and Curses of the Bible
                                  (Deuteronomy 28)
               The Old Fulfilled -- The New Revealed
               The Seed of the Woman -- Sinless Flesh
                                (Gen. 3-15)

The word "blessed" is used in two ways in giving praise to God and in declaring his supreme happiness to man. 
We bless God by praising and worshipping Him and he blesses us for obedience to Him. Blessings and Curses were spoken of in the Old Testament and the Israelites understood how they must live to be blessed. We see in the Adamic Covenant the first promise of the Messiah in Gen. 3: 15. This included complete redemption and also the removal of the five-fold curse. (Rev. 22: 3; Rom. 8: 18-23)

In the Beatitudes in the New Testament, we see blessings pronounced by Jesus on men for obedience to his laws and for having his Christ-like attributes and characteristics in their lives. From the very beginning, we saw the laws of "blessings and curses" as stated in Deuteronomy 28 and blessings by obeying the Lord. Under grace, we are to love God and others and know all the other commands hinge on the great command of love. 

There were many blessings promised to the Israelites for obedience and these were all conditional on their willingness to obey the voice of the Lord to observe and do all his commands. The curses for disobedience were also listed in this chapter. We know it "rains on the just and the unjust" but eternal blessings are promised only to the obedient. Even though we see many people who are ungodly with material prosperity or health, we know their future is separation from God unless they repent. 

People sometimes suffer the consequences of what has been sown by ancestors as to sin according to the law of "sowing & reaping", blessings and curses. God does not place a curse upon relatives for the sins of their ancestors if the children and grandchildren have received Christ as their Savior and His grace, and live in obedience to Him. The curse was to those that "hated God". Also, we know that obedience to God and a repentant heart gains God's favor and He will work in behalf of his children to reverse all the curses the enemy may have tried to bring. Sin was passed to ancestors because of Adam's sin, but if righteousness was seen in hearts and lives they found "grace" or blessings in the eyes of the Lord, as Noah did.

We can see in Deu. 20: 5 that the Lord God is a jealous God, and visits the iniquities or sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation, but it is to only those that (hate God) according to the dividing of the many Scriptures on this subject as in Deu. 5: 9. This visiting or punishment was the penalty for idolatry for serving other Gods and going astray. It was visited upon those that hated God and worshipped other gods, not putting God first and obeying the commands. 

The good part and balance of these Scriptures is Exo. 20: 6 which tells us he shows mercy unto thousands of them that love him, and keep his commandments. The word for "showing mercy" in this Scripture is "asah" and means to do or to make, to bestow or demonstrate favor, pity mercy or kindness as a blessing. The conditions are to "love him" and keep his commands. These blessings are not just to the third and fourth generations but to thousands. This is awesome of our God and his mercy is from everlasting to everlasting.

I also notice never does it say "the iniquity of the Mothers" because Adam, not Eve, was the source, fountainhead, or the moral spiritual and legal head or representative of the whole race. When he was innocent, all were in his loins and when he committed sin, he acted for the entire race and as their source he was responsible for sin being passed to all men. When he acted he did so for the race that was to come from Him which would share his blessing if he obeyed, or the curse of sin for disobedience. It is said that "we virtually gave consent to what he did in the same sense that Levi paid tithes in Abraham while still in his loins".  We were all sinners as through Adam's sin, and because of our sins we needed a Savior to bring us back into a covenant relationship with God. There was only one answer and sacrifice which would be perfect and of "sinless flesh" which would be God's only Son. He was to be the "Lamb of God" who would take away the sins of the world and bruise the head of the serpent as prophecied as the "seed of the woman."

Part 2.
          The Sinless Christ through the Virgin Birth
                          (Sins of Fathers)

Sin has always been reckoned or counted as passing from the Fathers to the children and not through the Mothers. Scripture recognizes the woman as merely the means of reproduction of man without sinful responsibility as far as passing sin from parent to offspring is concerned. This is a very important fact and belief, (teaching of doctrine) as it explains how Jesus could be born of a woman, a virgin, and still not be born or have "sinful flesh" but "sinless flesh". No sins were passed down to make Jesus under the curse of sin because he would voluntarily "take on the curse of sin for us", but was without sin or guile. Christ came as the seed of the woman (Gen. 3: 15) but was not the seed of man. Man is recognized as the head of the race in all Scripture. The iniquity of man, not woman, was passed as a curse upon children as in Ex. 20: 5; Num. 14: 18; Deu. 5: 9; Jer. 31: 29-30; Ezek. `8: 2-4. Mary, as merely the means of God in bringing His own Son into a human body, as Jesus was not conceived by man who could not produce sinless offspring. God is holy and cannot produce sinful offspring and thus by Holy Spirit we have the conception of Jesus and "sinless flesh". This was according to the law of reproduction in Gen. 1: 22-28. Thus by means of the woman, God could send Christ in 'likeness of flesh' usually controlled by sin; and still not of sinful flesh and not controlled by Satan. (1 Pet. 2: 22). 

One of our major doctrines is the Virgin Birth of our "sinless Christ" who was the Word which became "flesh", but not under the curse of sin as not born of the line of sinful man. The family name was that of God Himself passed on to our Lord, as he was called "the Mighty God", "Prince of Peace", etc., and was not of mortal man even though Jesus was born of a woman. He was "God with us" and will be with us until the end through His Holy Spirit.

                    No Longer Under The Curse 
                        Old Fulfilled -- New Revealed

Because of the supreme sacrifice of Christ, we are no longer under the curse of of the Law. We receive God's grace and salvation by faith and are to love Him with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourself. If we stay in the will of God, we will have the assurance of His blessings. Also, if a Head of a family sins & goes astray they can be under a curse, (punishment or chastisement for disobedience),  but if their children love God and are saved, there would be no curse upon these children under the law of Grace as the blessings of the Lord 'are to thousands' of those that serve and love Him.  Each man or woman is responsible for their own sins and will answer to God for such as revealed in God's Word.

In the fullness of time, God sent Jesus to be the atonement for our sins. The sacrifices of the Old Testament which were under the law could not remove sin. These only covered the sins as the blood of bulls and goats could not remove sin. They were only a shadow of the perfect sacrifice of the "Lamb of God" which was to come. His sacrifice on Calvary's Cross would forever remove not only sin but the guilt of sin. The blood of a sacrifice was applied by the High Priest on the mercy seat over the Ark of the Covenant once a year. This was on the Day of Atonement. Sins were covered until the next year or Day of Atonement. The Priesthood of Aaron would not be the perfect sacrifice as of Jesus whose sacrifice would atone for the sins of the world. His one time sacrifice was sufficient would not have to be repeated. It was the one perfect sacrifice for sin and we are no longer under the curse of the law. Christ came to fulfill the law and bring in a better covenant. The curse was because of sin and required a New Covenant and a better sacrifice which only God could provide.

If we disobey God's commands and do not repent, we can bring upon ourselves punishment and chastisement, as God is not obligated to bless those who disobey his laws. If we are obedient children, we have a promise of his blessings. He is such a loving God and desires to bless his children. It is his will that we be in good health and prosper even as our soul prospers. May we always recognize that God is a Holy God that demands holiness of his people. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Holiness is an attitude of the heart and mind that can be seen in our Christian walk. It is "Jesus on the inside working on the outside". As He writes his laws in our hearts, we will willingly have a desire to serve Him and obey Him. His love is the greatest gift of all. When we receive his free gift of salvation, we must keep a repentant and humble heart. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. When we seek Him with our whole hearts, we will find Him. He is just as close as the mention of his name, "Jesus". Praise Him today for his grace which still amazes us and his love which He bestows on us as children of God.

Blessings,           Jo Ann J. P.'s Inspirations (c) 2002